Shadow Zone
by kiflajiq
Summary: A multinational squad is sent into the zone to investigate the explosion of the Bulgarian Kozloduy NPP.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

Above the dry fields were only clouds of dust carried by the wind. You could see them change shape, merge together, split. Not much to look at. Then suddenly a strange roaring sound appeared in the distance. You could hear it getting closer and closer, with the very same clouds of dust trying to stay away from it. Getting closer, you could see that it is a helicopter. Eventually, it would just fly over you and keep going, with the roaring sound, the only sign of life in miles around, going away in the distance.

"Base, this is Kedr, approaching drop 2 minutes, over."

"Roger that, Kedr. Drop the cargo and get back to base, over."

"Copy that, base. Ending transmission."

"Are you boys feeling all right back there?" Kowalski looked backwards to the troop compartment.

"Yeah, super. Metal seats and all the ass massage you could ever wish for." Stephenson, one of the two Americans in the group whined.

"Well, this ain't Air Force One, so you're gonna have to live with it or walk on foot. And by on foot I really mean on foot. "

"Relax. It'll be quite some time until we need to get out, so you won't have to put up with his constant whining anytime soon." Lothar, the squad commander said.

"So you know that I'm just you ride-in? We'll probably never see or hear each other again. I just hope that you're not on your own down there."

"Yeah, we know. Why can't you get us any further into the zone?"

"The clouds are too low and you can't see for shit. And there's too much particles in the air that get inside the engines. Why do you think most of the other teams that were sent are missing? However I heard that some new protective skirts were being tested and they should help battle with the problem. I can only get you about 15 kilometers from the plant without risking the helicopter, somewhere near Hayredin. That village was probably the first one to be evacuated. You won't see anyone there. It's a dead place. Okay, that should be the drop zone. We have some wind blowing, so hold on. It might be a hard landing."

The wind started blowing stronger and stronger. The helicopter tilted to the side and started rotating counter-clockwise with the "cargo" getting a hell of a shaking, until Stephenson's seatbelt failed:

"Fuck! I can't hold on! I need help!" shouted Stephenson, trying to hold on to his seat, but all the vibration and rotating threw him right next to the side door.

"Catalin, grab him!" Lothar shouted.

Catalin, the Romanian in the squad quickly, even before Lothar told him, tilted to the side and stretched his arm, but couldn't reach Stephenson. The American caught the handrail on the side of the door, but could only hold on for a few seconds, until he let go and was thrown out by the strong wind stream.

"No! Stephenson!" Johnson, the other American in the group screamed.

Only a few seconds after that the helicopter hit the ground hard with a loud *thump* sound and some minor cracking which could be heard if you somehow ignored everything else. Johnson tried to unbuckle his seatbelt, but the concussion from the crash made it hard for him to coordinate his hand movement. Eventually, he let loose and jumped out to find Stephenson. He was about ten meters from the helicopter, lying on the ground.

"Guys, come on! I think he's still alive." said Johnson, checking his pulse. "Catalin! Catalin! Get here now!"

Catalin, obviously the medic in the squad jumped off the helicopter and ran to them. He put his hand on Stephenson's wrist to check his pulse and confirmed Johnson's words, nodding to the others who were helplessly watching from the craft.

"He'll live." were his words, filled with hope and optimism.

Then they both dragged him inside and the medic started treating him. Stephenson's eyes were staring at the top of the troop compartment. Blinking occasionally,his sight was getting lost at the never-ending blue-grayish pattern. Meanwhile the flight engineer went around the helicopter and checked for external damage to the machine.

"The nose landing gear has been damaged but it won't take long to get fixed. And there is some damage on the external of the hull. Nothing major, sir."

"All right. I'll report back to base." Kowalski replied and turned his head to Lothar."And you? What are you going to do now?"

"Catalin and Stephenson will stay here with you. The rest of us will continue as planned."

"Aye." Kowalski turned his radio."Base, this is Kedr, over."

"Kedr, here base, go ahead."

"We had some strong wind near the drop zone and had to crash-land, over."

"Copy that, what's your sitrep? "

"We've got injured. One from the squad fell during the landing. The helicopter also suffered some minor damage, nothing major. The injured will stay with us, over."

"Repair and get back to base ASAP."

"Roger, Kedr out."

Catalin got out of the chopper and went to speak with Lothar, leaving the now conscious Stephenson alone inside.

"Sir, there's nothing more that I can do for him without proper equipment, but I think he'll make it to base. I'll just be wasting my time here. Permission to continue my original mission?"

"Granted. Kowalski, Catalin is coming with us. You hurry up and get Stephenson to base."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll do our job. You just go finish your thing in the zone."

"Finish… I'm afraid we haven't even started it…"

And so the squad went on into the zone, one of the first to actually land inside after the blowout. But that didn't mean that Lothar, Johnson, Catalin, Dmitriy and Petrov were alone. Many people, single or in groups entered the area on their own, unknowing what it would look like after the outburst of the plant. There wasn't much information given out to the public, so humanity's most basic instinct – the one to explore, to know, took over. The vegetation, or what remained of it, hadn't changed much for the short period of time, but the buildings…the buildings…they would no longer hold life, looking more like dead men's coffins than an actual place where one can rest. Kozloduy NPP's first and second reactors having neared their life's end were supposed to be put out of commission long time ago. The country, lacking funds, kept them operational way more than they were built to last. Before its accession to the EU the country was required to send a report on the plant's condition. The Union considered the plant safe based on the data they received and on reports that it had recently underwent a major safety upgrade. The explosion that followed was more destructive than the one at Chernobyl NPP, destroying or irradiating almost everything at ground zero and severely hindering any floral development in the whole 25 km radius – the actual zone size. You could probably get to about 20km from the center without much risk to your life, but that's where things started getting nasty. The explosion had released a huge cloud in the air, preventing any form of communication inside or outside. That's why some call it the Shadow zone. Hours after the meltdown the documents' data was revealed to have been faked and that no restoration had taken place. With help of the EU and UN rapid response teams were formed and contact with the inner areas of the zone was tried, some of it successful, most of it ending up with a whole squad and helicopter never to be seen again.

Hearing that everything had been fixed Kowalski thanked God and quickly jumped in the cockpit with Roberts the co-pilot right after him. Martin, the flight engineer, who was at the back with Stephenson quietly said:

"I didn't tell anyone but…well…his seatbelt didn't fail. It had been unbuckled."

"We'll worry about that when we get home. Everyone ready? Here we go."

Kowalski reached with his finger to press to "START" button on the stick but suddenly the windshield in front of him cracked. He felt a strong pain in the chest and looked downwards, seeing a bullet hole and blood coming out. He tried to touch it, but his strength suddenly left him and his hand fell lifelessly on the side. The co-pilot tried to get out of the cockpit and ran backwards to the flight engineer in the troop compartment when another crack was heard. Martin saw Roberts come down breathless right next to him with blood at the back of his helmet. Shocked, he couldn't move and just stood there waiting for what his destiny was. Not long after that he heard footsteps and some people talking outside:

"They shouldn't have been here so early, we still aren't ready."

"And we won't be anytime soon if they keep sending more people. I fear they know what have in possession. We must report to HQ, you check inside for survivors." One of the people said and an unknown soldier came into the helicopter. He looked at Roberts' body and then at Martin who tried to protect Stephenson.

"Sir, we've got two people alive I think." He said and looked again at Martin. "Why are you here? What is your mission?"

Martin stood silent, as if not being able to comprehend.

"Are they going to talk?" a voice from outside replied.

"One of them might. The other is unconscious I think."

"Kill him. He's of no use."

"Yes, sir." Said the soldier and took his pistol out.

He pointed it at Stephenson and fired a round which went just inches wide from Martin and hit Stephenson's chest, killing him.

"Do you want to share his faith? No? Then start talking."

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" he was frightened."We were just the crew sent to transport part of the expeditionary force and didn't know anything about the details of their mission. I can only tell you that they went into the zone. I know nothing else. I swear!"

"Sir, he says he's just part of the helicopter personnel and that they were sent to transport a squad to the zone. Apparently they went further inside."

"Tie him up and put him in the car. We'll take him to base and see if HQ's got any plans about him. Strashilov and Ognyanov, take care of this mess."

"Roger."

Someone put a bag on Martin's head and tied his hands. He was thrown outside and later on what he thought was a jeep by the sound of its engine. The machine drove off in an unknown to Martin direction.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

"So, sir, what exactly is our mission here?" Dmitry asked his commander

"To recon the area deeper into the zone and try to make contact with a nearby Bulgarian base, supposedly left almost intact."

They first went through Hayredin. The lack of life killed any optimism that may have been left in them. All those empty streets, all those empty houses…A miserable view. You could shout all you want and still nobody would hear. The only one speaking back to you would be your own echo…

The group walked on the old, probably not maintained for 30 years road, looking at the gradually decreasing floral life as they got further and further, trying to avoid any radiation pockets they encounter. Before night came, they found an old farm house not far from the road and decided to stay in. You never know what night might bring, even if it's in the middle of a probably lifeless region. Dmitry was the one who was lucky enough to stay on watch. Yeah, like anything's going to happen, he said to himself. And even if something happened, you wouldn't see it. The farm's windows hadn't been cleaned in years. When looking through them you got the feeling that you were in a fog, disoriented, not knowing where you are, having no idea what lies beyond, so Dmitry just kept looking at the floor, avoiding any missing or loose planks as he walked. Thinking that nothing's going to happen, he sat in the corner of a room and got to sleep, hoping that nobody will notice in the morning. During the night it started raining acid, nothing unusual for the zone, destroying even more of the dying ecosystem. Dmitry was first to get up and wake the others, completing the illusion that he started in the night. Having packed everything, they walked out of the farm and continued onwards. Petrov took a can of beans from his backpack and opened it while looking at a tree that was nearby:

"I'm pretty sure that thing had branches and leaves yesterday. And everything around seems more dead than usual." He said before putting a full spoon of beans in his mouth.

"Why do you pay attention to it? It's a tree. It probably got hit in the outburst and your memory's now playing tricks with you."

"Nou, aam pity shuua." Petrov slurped with some pieces of the haricot flying out of his mouth."Uant shum?"

"Gross…" Lothar frowned and took a huge bite out of his chicken sandwich.

"You know what I'm sure? I'm sure that I need a woman, or two…You know what Pooh says – "The more, the merrier!" That little pervert. And they let children watch that show." Johnson shared his thoughts.

"They let children watch it because there aren't any psychos around them to interpret it in their own way, like you. Besides, he's cuddly. Kids love such things." Johnson added.

"Shhh! Get down…I see movement up front." Lothar ordered."Petrov, you still got that scope? Use it."

The Bulgarian looked through the scope and tried to steady it on the object in front of him. The zooming wasn't much but he could make out at least five people. In the meantime Lothar got his binoculars out and looked through them. He could see six people, four women and two men, all civilians. The squad leader ordered the soldiers to continue moving with caution and when they were about fifty meters away from the people he shouted at them to stop and not to move. They didn't know English, so Petrov translated. They were citizens from Butan. According to them there were many survivors waiting to be rescued.

"They say that there was an EMP blast shortly before the explosion and they haven't seen anyone come from Kozloduy since then. What are we going to do with them?"

"We'll give them some supplies and you tell them to go past Hayredin and then to Mihaylovo. There should be a checkpoint somewhere."

Petrov told them where to go and gave them his Geiger counter, hoping that he didn't make a huge mistake. It was getting late but Lothar insisted that they continue and lead the group on the road to Butan. A little before the village they went right, through Ogosta river and into a forest or at least something that had been a forest before.

"We should be nearing the base, stay alert."-Lothar ordered and everyone crouched. You could see some of the watch towers from miles away. But that didn't mean they couldn't see you. Johnson heard a noise on the left and everyone turned to the side, exposing their right flank.

"Dmitry, go see what it is." – But Dmitry was nowhere to be seen. "What the hell happened to Dmitry? Hey Dmitry! Where the hell is he?" Another sound was heard and Petrov was missing. "Fuck!" everyone thought. There was the third sound with Johnson disappearing. "Catalin, I really hope you're still here."

"I'm here, sir. Don't worry about me." Catalin replied with lack of fear in his voice.

Lothar looked at the bushes around him, looked at Catalin, looked back at the bushes, tried to sharpen his hearing, looked again at Catalin and unwillingly said:

"Stand down, Catalin. We surrender."Lothar looked again at the bushes, "You hear that? We surrender! Drop your weapon, Catalin." Catalin took his magazine off, emptied the receiver and dropped the rifle. "Good." The German said and hit him with the butt of his gun in the head. The Romanian fell on the ground with his eyes shut. Then several people came out of the bushes dragging Dmitry, Petrov and Johnson."Get them inside. We can't risk being compromised. Any news on the Spiders?"

"No, sir. We still don't know where they are."

"We need to find their location soon. And do you have any news on group Vega?" Lothar said and lit a cigarette.

"Yes, sir. They attacked the helicopter that got you here. No survivors."

"That's not good, not good at all. Fuck, it's terrible. Why would they even do that? It's illogical. And the chopper didn't get back to base. That's not a squad in the zone, that's a frakkin helicopter on its way home. This means that they'll send someone to investigate. Fuck. Get them inside. We'll see what we'll do with them later."

A well hidden door right under their noses opened and everyone entered with Lothar taking a quick glance at the base in the distance and closing the door.

In Vraca an important-looking man stood on his desk in a dark room with only his desktop lamp lighting what he was reading. A door opened and an officer came in with a folder in his hands:

"General, we've lost another helicopter - pilot Vladislav Kowalski and squad leader Lothar Krause, both from the Expeditionary Force Program."

"Let me guess…Again without reaching the drop zone and everyone missing?"

"No, sir. This one reached their drop zone. It did have a rough landing but was supposedly repaired and should have returned back to base. We have had no contact with them ever since."

"Give me the folder." The General said. Several minutes passed while he was reading what was written inside. "This doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't they return? It says here that they sustained only light damage. What? They couldn't inflate a stupid tire? No, there's something more to it. Send a squad and an engineer tomorrow to their drop zone to investigate and let me know if they find anything."

"Yes, sir!" the officer said and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Johnson woke up in a small room. He had no memory of getting here. The last thing he remembered was when he was walking in the forest with the rest of the squad. He got up and tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Hey, is anyone there?" He shouted and started hitting the door with his fists.

"Yeah, you aren't the only one here, so shut up." Said a voice from the other side.

"_Fuck…"_ he said to himself."_I'm trapped here alone. Gotta find a way to escape." _But before he could do anything the door opened and Lothar was thrown in by the guards.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. We have bigger problems. They had a spy in our group."

"A spy? Who? It was Dmitry wasn't it? That dirty Russian. I knew it all alo…"

"Shut up and listen! It wasn't him. It was Catalin. He had been working for them since the very beginning."

"Catalin? But why him? What could he gain by working for them?"

"I don't know. Different people, different ideals I guess."

At that moment the door opened again and the same guards came and took Johnson, slamming the door as they left. They took him to another room with a table in the middle on which Dmitry and Petrov were sitting and eating beans. He sat beside them and started tucking into his bowl as if he hadn't eaten in ages.

"Listen up. We have a traitor." Johnson said quietly. "Lothar told me that Catalin is woking for these guys and has infiltrated our squad. We can't trust anything he says."

"Catalin? Why Catalin?"

"Beats me, but it has to be true." Johnson added and turned to the door from where Catalin was just pushed into the room and forced to sit next to them.

"Shut up and listen." The Romanian said."I think the commander ratted us out. He's not who you think he is."

"Oh really?"

"I'm positive. Once we get out of here I'll explain everything." He turned to the guard "I'm not hungry. Can you get me back to my cell?"

The guard moaned something to himself and grabbed Catalin's hands, dragging him all the way to his cell.

"Look at him. It's probably all a set-up to make us believe him. So stupid, he's overreacting. It's written all over his face." Everyone agreed. Johnson and Dmitry were then taken to their cells too, leaving Petrov with all the beans. Not that he didn't enjoy eating…he just didn't have anyone to share it with. He was then taken to his cell too, leaving the guard alone in the kitchen to finish what had been left of the food. When Johnson got back to his cell he saw that Lothar was missing.

"What have you done to him?" He shouted at the door. "Captain!" he shouted again and hit the door with his fist. "_Crud! I have to try and escape before they learn that I know about Catalin too. God, I told the others! I've put them in danger. I'll talk with them at lunchtime to see if we can figure out a plan."_

Martin opened his eyes but was immediately blinded by the bright light that was pointed right at him. He was sitting on a chair in a dark room with his hands tied at the back and could hear two men behind the light arguing. Still feeling dizzy he could overhear only some of the dialogue:

"Why…ou kil…them? They a…our side…were probably sent…act us. "

"You read…report. That mis…had be…mpromised. Ori…about it. We had n…oice"

"He m..ght be just…we need. Shhh, he's…ing up. Give h... ater."

Another man from behind Martin put a glass of water near his mouth and helped him drink it.

"Relax now, you're safe. I'm Ivanov. You can trust me. We…um…we're sorry about your friends. It was a mistake and shouldn't have happened. Are you still listening? Good. I need to ask you a favor. Just accept it and I'll answer all your questions." Ivanov said and opened a map of the region.

"Go on…"

"I'm going to draw a route for you." And he dragged his hand which had a blue pen in it through the map."Take it and when you get far enough from here go to Vraca. A military detachment is there. Being part of the expeditionary force, you should have more authority than most of the stationed personnel. Find Colonel Ivan Stanchev. You can find him at Café Chaika. Tell him we need to move the Katyas and that reinforcements are needed. Understand? Be sure not to wander around. There are pockets of radiation everywhere and if I haven't mentioned yet - an enemy blockade around the base." Ivanov said and looked him in the eyes. Somehow Martin knew that he was telling the truth and agreed.

"Do I have a choice? I'll do it. Now about those questions..."

"Ask away."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Officially I'm First Lieutenant Ivanov of the 5th Shipchenska mechanized brigade, stationed at Vraca. Unofficially…well…it's a long story."

"I see. And what are the Katyas?" Martin asked but one of the soldiers kicked him in the stomach. "*cough* Forget that I asked…*cough*…Another question…*cough*…Who's blocked the base?"

"A group calling themselves Orion. They need what we have."

"Why did you kill everyone else in the helicopter?"

"As I said, it was a mistake. We thought that everyone on board were Orion operatives when in fact it was just one man." Ivanov took out a picture and showed it to Martin."Do you know this guy?"

"I think I saw him on the helicopter…Yeah, he was their squad leader or something…Hmm…That explains the "failed" seatbelt…Don't ask…. Do you know what happened to them?"

"They're probably dead by now."

"Does this Orion group have anything to do with the Kozloduy blowo…" he hadn't finished his sentence when he got hit in the stomach again.

"Listen, most of the things you just heard aren't even known to the President. I hope it stays that way when we let you go. Remember, don't wander off the route. And be careful when you exit the base, it is difficult even for a lone man to pass through the blockade undetected. If you get caught, you know nothing, understand? "

"I hear ya. But how did you get me here if the base's been blocked?"

"Before they surrounded us, we had sent a squad to recon the area. They've been our contact with the outside ever since. It's safest to pass when the guards are changing shifts at night. That's when Vega squad sends a man to contact us and that's when they managed to get you through. And they were the ones who attacked your helicopter. We risked a lot to get you here and I don't want it to have gone to waste. Vega squad is too busy and I can't use them for this task. And I don't want to put any of my men in danger. I hope you understand. After you pass the blockade, go here." Ivanov pointed at the map. "There's a vehicle parked that's still working after the EMP." The Lieutenant stood up. "Release him. You should go soon. They usually change shifts after about 20 minutes. Your…kicker…will escort you to the exit at the back. It's usually not watched and they shouldn't see you. Good luck."

"Come." Said Martin's new friend and lead him through a series of corridors in what seemed to be an old bunker built before 1989. He stopped at a door, said "Farewell. Sorry that I kicked you…twice." and turned off the lights."Go now."


End file.
